Short-form Content

[Setsuna]

(apologies in advance if this is already an existing thread topic but I couldn't find it upon looking so uhhh let's go)

Whether it's YouTube shorts, Instagram/Facebook reels, TikTok videos, even older formats like Vine, bite-sized videos online like these have existed for years. Do you use any of these platforms, and how often would you say you watch them compared to your typical length video online? Do you have any particular thoughts about consuming these shorter videos that are easier to scroll through, whether it's liking or disliking them? Are there any particular aspects of it do you think are better or more interesting than a "normal" length video?

For me, YouTube shorts and Instagram reels are something I'll scroll through if I'm laying in bed wanting to relax, or simply just want to kill time. I've seen a lot of variety in what I've scrolled upon and I think it makes things easy for me to watch if I know it's not going to be a big time commitment to watch. Often I'll see something like a cooking video that I wish went into more detail or had the time to show off a more descriptive recipe which makes me feel like people just know it's the easy solution to get tons of views quick and don't put as much effort into it as I'd like to see. It seems like they're really common nowadays and I find myself watching them every so often, so I was curious to hear some thoughts.

 

[Delta Crowned Sword]

No. I don't use either of those cheap form of entertainment, neither I use YouTube apart from the purpose for which I had opened.



Those are massive source of wasting time, and indulging in it causes us to lose more time, and we can't even know how much had passed doing it. I am very happy that Tik-Tok is no longer a thing for us, and hope that it never returns back. But then departure of Tik-Tok brought Reels and shorts into the picture; it also does the same thing if I am correct.......

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

I'm not really interested in super short videos. I watch a lot of stuff sped up to save time, but I do prefer to get somewhat invested in whatever video that is.

As for what I watch videos on, pretty much just Youtube or Twitch.

 

[Megan]

I've maybe watched a handful of them on Youtube. I always got annoyed by them not allowing to turn them off permanently. It's always only been for about a month before they turned it back on. Fortunately, my browser allows me to block certain parts of a webpage. So, I just ended up blocking the container that shows those Shorts. And I've not had to bother with it ever again! :D

 

[Explorer of Time]

I don't think I've ever watched a single one of these myself; I almost never watch videos unless there's no other way to get the information I need.

 

[Lavender]

Not the biggest fan myself, but I can see why they'd be nice to some people!

 

[Starlight]

I really don't use social media much, so I tend not to view short form videos a whole lot. Obviously, if a cute cat video somehow ends up on my phone then that might be different 😇

I can understand why people don't have time for longer videos - I rarely do either - but at the same time, a lot of short form content just isn't that engaging for me. So much of it seems to serve no real purpose.

Another reason I tend to avoid it is that a lot of the posts that disappear after a short time (stories and the like) are short form content and I don't like that one little bit. I haven't got the time or energy right now to keep up with people's feeds to see a story in the short time it's up, so I miss all that. Peeps should only use disposable content for things that are silly and unimportant, not something that they actually want people to see and pay attention to, we can't all spend the necessary time glued to our SM to catch it when it's up 😭

 

[ReKoil]

Every now and then I'll see one of those 'guess the Pokemon from only seeing their eyes/feet/arms/etc.' videos and I'll probably watch it.
Most of the time I ignore shorts though, I only watch them every once in a while if one catches my attention.

 

[NipahRika]

Yes, sometimes I watch them. I still only go to YouTube to watch normal content like music videos, let's plays, or whatever else.

 

[gimmepie]

I generally don't watch much super short content like that. Every now and then I'll mindlessly scroll through YT shorts to kill time or I'll watch shorts/TikTok stuff that gets sent too me but I prefer longer content with a little more depth generally.

 

[WaluigiFan3]

Depends on the content. Sonic David's fast paced stop motion is pretty entertaining. Fast paced humor like that falls under my preference. Long form content like video essays help for when I'm drawing.